The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the newer franchises in NBA history. Without nearly as many seasons under their belt as teams like the Celtics or Knicks and playing in a smaller market city, the Wolves’ list of all-time great players is significantly shorter than many other teams.
With that being said, there are still some generational talents that have come through Minneapolis. There is certainly a case to be made that a current Timberwolf, Karl-Anthony Towns, is one of the top two players in franchise history.
All-time lists can be difficult to piece together and there is always room for a difference of opinion. To get an objective viewpoint, we decided to ask ChatGPT who it thinks the five greatest players in Timberwolves history are. The following list was all generated by artificial intelligence.
5 greatest Timberwolves of all time (according to AI)
- Kevin Garnett – KG is the greatest player in Timberwolves history, spending the majority of his career with the team. He was drafted by the Timberwolves in 1995 and played for them until 2007, before returning for a final season in 2015-2016. He won the league’s MVP award with the team in 2004 and led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals that same year.
- Karl-Anthony Towns – KAT has quickly become one of the best players in Timberwolves history since being drafted by the team in 2015. He was named the Rookie of the Year in 2016 and has been named an All-Star twice in his young career.
- Kevin Love – Love played for the Timberwolves from 2008-2014 and was named an All-Star three times during his tenure with the team. He was also named the league’s Most Improved Player in 2011.
- Sam Cassell – Cassell played for the Timberwolves from 2003-2005 and was a key member of the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2004. He was named an All-Star that season and was instrumental in leading the team’s offense.
- Tom Gugliotta – Gugliotta played for the Timberwolves from 1995-1998 and was named an All-Star in 1997. He was a versatile forward who could score and rebound, and he was a key player on the Timberwolves teams of the late 1990s.
The computer’s picks mostly line up with the answers that Timberwolves fans would give to this question. No one would dispute that Kevin Garnett stands alone as the top player in franchise history, owning the organization’s only MVP award along with 10 All-Star appearances in a Wolves uniform.
Towns and Love ranked second and third makes sense as well. It is the last two spots where it seems the bot may have made a mistake. Gugliotta’s years in Minnesota playing next to KG were filled with highlight-reel plays and Cassell’s 2003-04 season was one of the greatest in franchise history, but Wally Szczerbiak is a noticeable omission.
It is also worth noting that ChatGPT only has accurate information dating to the year 2021. This explains its description of Karl-Anthony Towns as a “two-time All-Star,” not counting his selection in 2021-22. Overall, the AI’s picks generally line up to be consistent with reality.